Category: Americas

The Colombian government has announced that the ELN (Ejército de Liberación Nacional, Spanish for “National Liberation Army”), the second largest guerrilla army in Colombia, will have peace talks starting on October 27. After the FARC peace agreement was narrowly rejected by Colombian voters in the October 2nd plebiscite, the government hopes that talks with the…

2 November 2017 Update: Since the publication of this post, it has become clear that the Twitter account @TEN_GOP was operated by the so-called “Russian troll factory” of St. Petersburg. This account was one of the most vocal amplifiers of the Blumenthal-Benghazi story that was later published (then redacted) on Sputnik. While the central thesis…

Construction activity at Brazil’s Itaguaí nuclear submarine shipyard continues to show signs of slowing, a review of recent satellite imagery suggests. Initially, Brazil was to have its naval shipyard and co-located submarine base ready to start initial vessel construction by 2016. As we moved along the project timeline, the country’s economic troubles and scandals made…

This week, Bellingcat conducted its first ever liveblog, in which Nathan Patin and I monitored the situation on the ground of Cleveland during the Republican National Convention from July 18-21. Sourcefabric provided us and First Draft News with the platform, allowing us to embed photographs, videos, and tweets throughout the week. Many members of the…

On April 08 2015, the person behind the “La Polaka” Youtube profile posted this video (YouTube). It features an unidentified cameraman walking alongside a resting convoy of about 15 vehicles and 50 heavily armed men wearing assault gears, military fatigues or civilian clothing. As the cameraman is cheering the column, radio communications can be heard between a group leader and “Meny” – likely an advanced element of the commando, scouting for possible enemies or security forces. One can hear the cameraman repeating “Animo, sicarios” which can be translated as “let’s go get them, hitmen”. The scene was reportedly filmed during late fall 2014, prior to clashes with a rival gang. Based on what can be observed in the video, it is possible to pinpoint the exact location of the deadly convoy.

François Pilet (L’Hebdo) and Aliaume Leroy. English to Spanish by Diego Recinos . For the article in English In the old days, discretion was the rule to follow for drug kingpins in Mexico. Take the example of Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, known as “the world ‘s most powerful trafficker.” The 60 year old man appears…